Democratic party vs Donald Trump: The fight continues

On the third day of the Democratic convention, every speaker reiterated the need to defeat Donald Trump at all costs.

Kamala Harris, who made history by becoming the first woman of colour to be nominated as the vice presidential candidate, lead the attack on Wednesday. She said that Trump's failure had “cost lives and livelihoods”. She gracefully took on racism in the nation, by saying that there was no quick fix for it. “There is no vaccine for racism,” she said. 

Other prominent leaders like former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also reinforced the need to vote for Joe Biden, the party’s presidential nominee. Obama spoke about the ideals an American president should represent and how Biden fits the bill.

He said, “Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe.”

Clinton warned about the effects of not caring and why this election should not become a repeat of the 2016 election, which Trump won. She stressed on the need vote.

Tweet wars 

This election cycle had not seen multiple attack ads on the Democratic Party’s side and the Republican Party has been going slow. But that is about to change. Several Republicans have tweeted, attacking not only Biden and Harris, but also Obama and Clinton. 

The charge was led by Trump, who in a series of tweets responded to Obama live. "HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT!," he tweeted while Obama was speaking. Trump also asked Obama why he didn’t want Biden to run again.  

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted a GIF of Lisa Simpson crying and tearing up a written speech when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke at the convention. 

Senator Lindsay Gram welcomed the comparison between Trump and Obama, tweeting that the 'Obama years' was marked by a weak foreign policy, slow growth and a weak economy. 

Failure to inspire? 

The convention is supposed to raise interest and present the nominees to the electorate to get them excited to vote for them. It is also a medium for proposing new ideas, like Barak Obama’s aspirational "Change we can believe in" and the "Yes We Can" chant in 2008. This convention has been devoid of this. It instead has focused on Trump and his failings.  

The party must be concerned that people did not tune in to watch the event. According to media reports, the TV viewership for the convention has been abysmal. Only 6.13 million viewers watched in on broadcast television networks on Tuesday night. This is a 48 per cent drop compared to 2016. 

On Monday, the broadcast ratings dropped by 42 percent compared to the first night of the party's convention in 2016. The total viewership on the first night of the 2020 convention was 18.6 million (including cable news networks MSNBC, CNN and Fox News), a 27 per cent fall from four years ago. 

Biden, throughout his campaign, has been facing an 'enthusiasm deficit'. A recent poll by ABC News/Washington Post shows that the share of Biden's supporters who are very enthusiastic about supporting him is 48 per cent. This has grown from 28 per cent in March, but it is still low -- Trump is enjoying a good enthusiasm level of 65 per cent. If the Democrats wanted to use the convention to closed this gap, then the poor TV viewership ratings should worry the party.